A non governmental organization, Academics Stand Against Poverty (ASAP) West Africa is set to introduce its inaugural essay competition which seeks to improve the reading culture of students, as well as assess their writing and analytical skills.

The competition named “Bandele Olanrewaju Essay Competition”, will hold annually and is open to all undergraduate students in West Africa. The topic of this year’s competition is ‘Eradication of Poverty: A key factor in achieving Social Justice. Discuss’’.

To participate, students should submit an essay of not more than 3,000 words with a short personal profile of not more than 150 words. The profile should include their names, institutions, courses, and their year of study. The essay, as well as profile, should be submitted to academics@asapwestafrica.org. Students that submit more than one entry will be disqualified.

According to Oluwaseun Olanrewaju, Director of Administration and Coordinator, ASAP West Africa, “essays on this topic can be written in English or French languages, and entries open on 24th July 2017 and close on 10 November 2017.”

He disclosed that “the winner, which will be announced on 29th December 2017 will receive a cash prize of N100,000, and he or she will have the opportunity to present the essay at 2018 ASAP West Africa Conference.”

ASAP West Africa Chapter was established in Lagos, Nigeria to work towards eradicating poverty in West Africa in line with the vision of ASAP Global, with hopes of having a snowball effect in the entire region. Through the efforts of academics and interested stakeholders, the membership base for ASAP West Africa is expanding rapidly. ASAP West Africa has developed a strong will to champion the expansion of a global network to help scholars, teachers and students contribute and actively participate in alleviating poverty globally.